A royal source said the couple were "very relaxed" about the images

A topless Prince of Wales getting a kiss from Jane Priest at Cottesloe Beach in Perth in 1979Photo: AP

By Jonathan Pearlman, Sydney

1:22PM GMT 13 Nov 2015

The Australian media have published footage of a topless “fit-looking” Prince Charles swimming at a private pool in Perth but he and the Duchess of Cornwall were said to be “very relaxed” about the images.

The Prince was filmed stripping down to shorts during a scorching summer’s day in Perth and taking a swim at the official residence of the Queen’s representative in the state of Western Australia.

Channel Seven and Channel Nine, which captured the footage, and the West Australian newspaper, which published images, have not yet commented.

Clarence House informally asked the British media to respect the couple's privacy and refrain from using the pictures, but the household has not considered legal action.

Prince Charles nervously looks on as Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, wields a knife as they visit Seppeltsfield Winery in South Australia's Barossa Valley Photo: Reuters

According to The West Australian, Prince Charles spent time reading by the pool and “protecting the royal cranium with one of a number of good old Aussie floppy hats he was offered”.

The Prince is likely to have been aware that it was possible he would be photographed with his shirt off, and sources did not dispute that if he had been particularly concerned about being photographed, he would have kept his shirt on.

The Australian media has a long history of publishing unapproved images of the royal family, often clearing the way for the British media to publish.

Famously, New Idea magazine, then owned by Rupert Murdoch, scooped the world in 1993 with publication of the so-called Camillagate transcripts – the intimate phone conversations between Prince Charles and Camilla, with whom he was then having an affair.

In 2012, Australia’s Woman’s Day magazine published photographs of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in swimwear during their honeymoon in the Seychelles.